Most fraud now happens through a screen. Fake investment platforms, hijacked email accounts, stolen card details and marketplace scams have made the internet the main setting for dishonesty offences, and Australians reported $2.18 billion in scam losses in 2025. Police and prosecutors have responded with a mix of long-standing deception offences and newer computer and identity crimes.
This article explains how online fraud and internet crime charges in Australia work, which offences are most often prosecuted in Victoria, the penalties they carry and how they can be defended. The same conduct can often be charged in several different ways. That choice shapes the court, the maximum penalty and the defences available, which is why the detail matters if you are under investigation.
What Is Online Fraud Under Australian Law?#
There is no single offence called online fraud. The term covers dishonest conduct carried out through websites, email, apps or phones to obtain money, property or another benefit. In Victoria, most cases are charged under the same fraud and deception offences that apply offline, found in the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). Commonwealth offences can apply where the target is a federal agency such as Centrelink or the ATO, or where the conduct involves identity crime, hacking or money laundering.
To prove a deception offence, the prosecution generally has to establish these elements:
- Deception: a false representation by words or conduct, made deliberately or recklessly
- Dishonesty: that you acted without a belief that you were legally entitled to what you obtained
- Obtaining: that you gained property or a financial advantage, for yourself or someone else
- Causation: that the benefit came about because of the deception
Victorian law makes clear that deceiving a computer counts. Under s 81(4) of the Crimes Act, deception includes doing something that causes a computer system or payment machine to make a response you are not authorised to cause, such as entering stolen card details at an online checkout. Where money is taken directly from an account rather than handed over because of a lie, police may charge theft instead of, or as well as, deception.
What Internet Crimes Are Commonly Prosecuted?#
Internet crime covers far more than scams, and reporting keeps growing. The Australian Signals Directorate received over 84,700 cybercrime reports in 2024-25, an average of one every six minutes. These are the matters that most often lead to charges:
- Scams and false listings: selling goods that do not exist, fake rental listings, romance scams and fake investment schemes
- Card and account fraud: using stolen card details online, or taking over someone's bank, email or shopping account
- Identity crime: using another person's name, licence, Medicare or card details to open accounts, borrow money or claim benefits
- Business email compromise: intercepting or spoofing an email to send an invoice payment to a different bank account
- Phishing: sending fake messages or building fake websites to collect passwords, card numbers or personal details
- Money mule activity: letting your bank account receive and pass on money from someone else's fraud, often after a fake job offer or romance
- Hacking and data offences: accessing, changing or damaging computer data without authorisation
- Government benefit fraud: false claims made to Centrelink, the ATO or another Commonwealth agency through online portals
Investment scams caused the largest losses reported to the National Anti-Scam Centre in 2025, followed by payment redirection and romance scams. Not everyone charged is the person behind the scheme, and money mules in particular are often people who were deceived themselves. Sextortion, where intimate images are used to demand money, is usually treated as an online sexual offence rather than as fraud.
What Penalties Do They Carry?#
Penalties for online fraud depend on the offence charged, the amount involved and which court hears the case. These are the maximum penalties for the offences most often charged:
Offence | Law | Maximum Penalty |
|---|---|---|
Obtaining property by deception | s 81 Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 10 years' imprisonment |
Obtaining financial advantage by deception | s 82 Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 10 years' imprisonment |
Making, using or supplying identification information | s 192B Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 5 years' imprisonment |
Possessing identification information | s 192C Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 3 years' imprisonment |
Unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment | s 247C Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 10 years' imprisonment |
Unauthorised access to restricted data | s 247G Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) | 2 years' imprisonment |
Obtaining a financial advantage by deception from a Commonwealth entity | s 134.2 Criminal Code (Cth) | 10 years' imprisonment |
Dealing in identification information using a carriage service | s 372.1A Criminal Code (Cth) | 5 years' imprisonment |
Dealing with money suspected of being proceeds of crime (under $100,000) | s 400.9 Criminal Code (Cth) | 2 years' imprisonment |
In Victoria, deception offences can be heard in a Magistrates' Court, such as the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, where the amount involved is $100,000 or less. That court can impose no more than 2 years for a single offence or 5 years in total, while larger or more complex frauds go to the County Court, where the full maximum applies.
When sentencing for fraud, courts weigh the amount taken, how long the offending went on, the level of planning, the impact on victims and whether any money has been repaid. They can also order compensation or restitution to victims, and property linked to the offending can be restrained and forfeited under proceeds of crime laws.
How Can These Charges Be Defended?#
Online fraud cases are built on digital records, and those records are rarely as clean as they first appear. These are the issues that most often decide a case:
- Identity: proving who used an account, device or IP address is harder than proving the account was used, and shared devices, stolen logins and spoofed numbers all create doubt
- No dishonesty: a genuine belief that you were legally entitled to the money, such as in a disputed debt, means the conduct was not dishonest under Victorian deception law
- No deception or causation: a failed business, a late delivery or a broken promise is not fraud unless a false representation caused the loss
- Lack of knowledge: money mules and people whose accounts were used by others may not have known, or had reason to suspect, that the funds came from crime
- How the evidence was obtained: material from devices searched without proper authority, or admissions made without advice, can sometimes be excluded
- The value alleged: challenging the amount can move a case to a lower court or onto a lesser charge
Where the evidence is strong, the focus shifts to the outcome. Repayment, an early plea, genuine remorse and evidence of the pressures behind the offending can all reduce a sentence, and first offenders in less serious matters may be eligible for diversion or a result without conviction. A computer crime lawyer can also negotiate which charges proceed, since one set of facts can often be charged as deception, identity crime or a computer offence. It helps to understand what happens after you are charged in Victoria before your first court date.
Online Fraud Charges Turn on the Digital Trail#
Online fraud and internet crime charges in Australia carry up to 10 years for the core deception offences, with identity, computer and money laundering charges often added alongside. Where a case ends up depends on the charge chosen, the amount alleged and how firmly the digital evidence links you to the conduct. Good cyber fraud lawyers test that link first, before anything is conceded.
Russo Lawyers defends fraud and deception charges in the Magistrates', County and Supreme Courts of Victoria. Every matter is run personally by the firm's principal, a former Court Registrar, with a same-day response and a free first call. Call (03) 7040 9825 or book a free call before you speak to police about the allegation.
Frequently asked questions
Obtaining property by deception and obtaining financial advantage by deception, under ss 81 and 82 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), are the usual starting point for scams, card fraud and false listings. Both carry a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment. Identity crime and computer offences are often charged alongside them where stolen details or unauthorised account access are involved.
Yes. The main deception offences carry up to 10 years, and courts treat fraud seriously because of the need to deter others. Whether a sentence includes prison depends on the amount, the planning involved, the harm to victims, any repayment and your history. First offenders in less serious matters can receive community-based orders, fines or outcomes without conviction.
You may be investigated as a money mule even if you had nothing to do with the scam itself. Under s 400.9 of the Criminal Code (Cth), dealing with money reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime is an offence, but it is a defence if you had no reasonable grounds to suspect where it came from. Do not move or withdraw the money, and get advice before speaking to police.
Not necessarily. A failure to deliver is usually a civil dispute unless you never intended to supply the goods or knowingly misdescribed them at the time of sale. Police look for patterns such as repeated listings, fake identities or money taken from several buyers as evidence of dishonesty. Refunding buyers does not undo an offence, but it is relevant to both charging decisions and sentencing.
Advice before any police interview is the most valuable step you can take. Many people search for an internet crime attorney, but in Victoria you need a criminal lawyer who handles fraud and deception matters and understands digital evidence. A lawyer for internet crimes will check how the account and device evidence links to you, whether the amount alleged is right and whether a lesser charge fits the facts.
